Patent Application
20090289424
The present disclosure relates to ball joints and more particularly to a ball joint dust seal.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Ball joints are commonly used in numerous applications such as vehicle stabilizer bar links, vehicle suspension control arms, vehicle tie rod ends, and other non-vehicle applications. Ball joints typically include a ball shaft attached to one of two members to be interconnected with each other by the joint and a ball housing accommodating the ball therein. The ball housing being attached to the other member. The ball joints can be positioned underneath a vehicle and exposed to the elements such that they require a ball joint seal to cover the joint in order to prevent dust and debris from being received in the ball joint. Water leakage around the elastomeric ball joint seal and into the ball joints can cause corrosion of the ball and ball housing. Typically, a ball joint is packed with grease that is injected into the ball joint housing through a nipple, or pre-packed in no-service assemblies. The grease can serve to lubricate the ball shaft within the ball housing. A typical ball joint seal design has been utilized to trap the grease within the ball joint and prevent ingestion of external contaminants.
The design of the present disclosure provides a ball joint seal, including an annular seal body including a first axial end and second axial end. The first axial end includes at least one axially extending seal lip and at least one radially inwardly extending seal lip. At least one of the axially extending seal lips and at least one radially inwardly extending seal lip having a channel or flute extending therethrough to allow grease to migrate from the ball joint to the axial sealing surfaces of the seal through the radial seal beads and/or through the axial seal beads.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses.
With reference to
The first dynamic seal end 14 can include one or more radially inwardly extending seal beads or lips 18 and one or more axially extending seal beads or lips 20. The radially inwardly extending beads 18 can each include one or more channels or flutes 22 extending axially therethrough and the axially extending lips 20 can include one or more channels or flutes 24 extending radially therethrough. The channels 22, 24 allow grease or other lubricants internal to the seal 10 to migrate from the ball joint to the axially sealing surfaces 20 of the dynamic seal portion 14.
It should be understood that the number of channels 22, 24 can be modified as well as the shape of the channels to provide for desired grease migration. The concept can be applied to both purgible dust boots (for joints requiring service) and non-purgible dust boots (for lube-for-life applications).
The concept may be applicable to dust seals that require a clip at the static and/or dynamic seals. The ability to allow grease or other lubricant to migrate to the axially extending sealing surfaces 20 of the dynamic seal portion 14 extends the service life of the ball joint dust seal 10, thus extending the service life of the ball joint assembly. It should be further noted that the concept could further be applicable to other dynamic seals with multiple contact surfaces other than ball joint seals.
The second end portion 16 of the seal 10 is designed to be a static seal which is adapted to be mounted to the ball joint housing and generally, is not intended to be movable relative to the ball joint housing in its assembled condition.
